On My Honor
by Marsfish
Summary: When Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe set out to eradicate a dark guild, they discover Lucy in a horrific state. They remain by her side throughout her recovery, but they soon realize that battles with evil beings and monsters aren't the hardest ones to fight. However, they refuse to give up. On his honor, Freed vows to bring back her light.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Freed grunted as he stood back upright, pressing a hand to what he knew would be bruised ribs in the near future. He looked over at the mage who had knocked him back, to see Laxus dealing a final blow to the man. He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that this fight was over. The dark guild they had come to eradicate was definitely stronger than they had assumed.

"Oh thank fucking god!" Bickslow groaned as he pulled his head away from the broken wall, where it had previously been thrown against. He let out another groan as he pulled his bent metal visor off his head, a small trickle of blood running down the side of his face. "Fucking hell."

Evergreen clutched her bleeding arm as she too stood back up from the vicious impact. "I can't believe those imbeciles were that strong."

"Is everyone alright?" Freed asked, he knew of course that they were all injured, but he felt the need to make sure there were no worrying injuries.

"Spiffy as dog shit." Bickslow grumbled as he rubbed his leg.

"I suppose." Evergreen muttered.

Freed accepted their answers, and turned his attention to their leader, who was now crouched down next to the man he had just defeated. "Laxus?" When he got no response, he walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Laxus grunted and picked something up from the ground, the clinking of metal together echoing off the walls of the now silent building. He turned to face Freed and held up the object, watching as Freed's eyes widened. "Aren't these Blondie's keys?"

Freed only knew of two celestial mages still in existence. He didn't know exactly which keys Fairy Tail's own celestial mage had, but he knew that Sabertooth's celestial mage only had two of the golden zodiac keys. Since the ring in Laxus' hands had nine of them, that could only mean that they were in fact Lucy's keys. "Yes. But why are they here? Can you smell her nearby?"

It was common knowledge that she hadn't been in the guild for the last three months. After Natsu had practically gone frantic in the guild hall, even they had learned that she had gone to visit her parents' graves. It took the master enlarging his fist on the boy, and telling him that she should have all the time she wants to spent with her parents, for the fire Dragonslayer to finally relent and calm down. If Freed remembered correctly, her parents' graves were in Acalypha, which was quite a distance from where they currently were. "No." Laxus grunted as he stood up, still studying the keys. "I can smell a lot of things, but not her."

Freed's eyebrows furrowed as he looked closer at the keys. On the tops, where the symbols for each constellation were, a black swirl danced across them, looking like smoke built into the keys. "There is something wrong with them."

"It looks like a trapping spell." Evergreen chimed as her and Bickslow joined the two. "A pretty powerful one, by the looks of it."

"So, they're trapped in the spirit world?" Bickslow frowned, looking at Loke's key in particular.

"Indeed, and it greatly concerns me." Freed frowned. "It would mean that Lucy would be utterly defenseless against mages of this caliber."

"You don't think she's…" Evergreen's statement died out, the implication not needing to be spoken aloud.

"No." Freed said firmly. "If that were the case, her keys would not be trapped. If I recall correctly, only keys with contracts can be affected in such a way."

Laxus growled and put the keys in his pocket. "Let's search this place. There's a good chance she's here if they had her keys."

They all murmured their agreement, and set off in search of their blonde guild mate. It wasn't a particularly big building, so it wasn't long until they came across a bolted door in the basement. They cast each other wary looks, before Laxus stepped up to the door and sent lightning across his body. He reeled back his fist and sent it into the door, making it practically shatter into pieces. They all stepped into the room, only to freeze on the spot. None of them were prepared for the sight that laid before them. Evergreen's hand shot to her mouth, as tears immediately fell from her wide, shocked eyes. Bickslow's face drained of all its color as it morphed into one of complete shock. Freed's entire body stood frozen, as if Evergreen had turned him to stone. Laxus was faring no better, the usually emotionless man donned a completely shocked and appalled expression.

"P-please tell me that's not her." Evergreen shakily whispered from behind her hand, and Freed swallowed thickly, his stomach contents wanting to expel while contemplating the answer to her question.

Laxus' answer came out as a mere whisper, "That's Blondie." Even he was having a hard time believing that what they were seeing was real. It took him breathing in her faint and familiar scent again, for him to actually come to terms with it.

She was hanging against the wall in chains, blood trickling down each arm, one for more reasons than the other. Her hair was gone, only slight patches of blonde tufts peeking through a bloodied and bruised head. Her stomach had clearly been cut open, and roughly patched back together, where thick metal staples were keeping the wound closed. But even at a mere glance, one could tell that the wound was infected. Her left leg was bent at an odd angle, and she was naked. Blood was caked on the insides of her thighs, but that wasn't the most concerning part. Her right arm was being held up in the chain by the crook of her elbow, and her right hand, the hand that bared her guild mark, was gone. A blood stained cloth was wrapped around where her hand once was, and her head was cast downwards.

It was Freed who took the first tentative step towards her. His blood had run cold, and his chest felt like it was anchored to the ground. He approached her cautiously, almost afraid. He crouched in front of her, and whispered her name in a shaky and gentle voice. "Lucy. Can you hear me?" When he got no response, he instinctively pressed two fingers against the pulse point on her neck. Honestly, he was shocked to find a pulse at all, however, it was faint, and she was no doubt in critical condition. He had to breathe in deeply, vaguely noticing Laxus' presence as he crouched next to him. He would have to get over his shock if he was going to get her out of here in time. "Can you break the chains without hurting her?"

Laxus hummed as he touched the chain. "I should be able to, but I'm gonna need you to stop her arms from falling. If she's been hanging here for long, it could rip her muscles from such a sudden change."

Freed only nodded as he placed one hand carefully under her upper arm, and the other over her shoulder. He could feel how tight and tense her muscles were under his hand, and he knew she had been here for a long time. Laxus sent a small spark of lightning into the lock of the chain, and carefully pulled hard against the metal until a loud clunk signified that he had succeeded. Freed massaged the muscles of her shoulder, loosening them as he, very slowly, lowered her arm down. As he lowered it completely, he felt her muscles start to shake, and he pulled back when a croaking whisper reached his ears.

"Please. Please. Please." A mantra of a whisper came from the blonde girl, and Freed gently put his fingers under her chin to tilt her head up. His voice clogged in his throat when he caught sight of her unfocused and dazed eyes.

"Lucy?" He whispered. "Can you hear me?"

"Kill me. Please kill me. Please. Kill me." Any warmth that had remained in his body, froze cold at her mantratic plea. He could faintly hear Evergreen's sob as his own tears slipped out of his eyes. Never in his life had he seen someone so broken, so utterly ready to be rid of life, and it haunted him to his core. Her voice was bland, like she had pleaded this a hundred times before, and he sucked in a shaky breath as his eyes drifted to an equally shaken Laxus.

"We have to hurry." Freed whispered to his leader, and the man nodded. They did the same to her other arm, as quickly as they could, and when both arms were lowered, her pleas turned into moans that would chill a demon's spine. As Laxus was taking off his coat to put over the girl, Freed turned to Bickslow, who was clutching Evergreen to his chest. "Bickslow." The said man slowly turned his gaze from the blonde girl to meet his eyes. "Call the rune knights." When Bickslow mutely nodded, Freed turned his attention back to the girl. Her moans had turned monotone, and barely above a whisper. As gently as he could, and with the help of Laxus, he pushed her shoulders away from the stone wall. As he held her shoulders, Laxus wrapped his coat fully around her fragile and bleeding body.

Laxus was shocked at how light she was as he carefully lifted her in his arms. His mouth turned into a grim line as he looked to his teammates, Bickslow just having ended the call to the rune knights. "Someone needs to stay here for when the rune knights arrive. There's no way she can stay here any longer."

"I'll stay." Bickslow voiced in a husky whisper. The despair that everyone was feeling was plain as day on the man's face.

Laxus nodded, he had a feeling Evergreen would be staying behind as well. "We'll be at the nearest hospital. Come whenever you're ready." He wasted no more time and strode out of the god forbidden room. He kept his footsteps as light as he could, not wanting to jostle her more than needed. He clenched his teeth and sent the man who was their leader a death glare as they passed him. Even though he was unconscious, Laxus wanted nothing more than to rip everyone in the building limb from limb, that particular man especially. He looked down at the girl in his arms as her nauseated moans started back up again. His eyebrows furrowed as he noticed that her eyes still seemed unfocused and completely lifeless. "How far is the hospital?" He gruffly asked his friend beside him.

"About an hour away." Freed blandly replied. "Do you think we'll make it?"

Laxus listened to her heartbeat, it was faint, but still beating firmly. "Yeah." He grunted. He wished more than anything that he could teleport them to the hospital, but he doubted that she would make it if he did. He took a deep breath as his strides quickened as much as they could without further harming her. He could only hope she would be okay. He knew how much she meant to the guild, and he knew he wouldn't be able to break the news to his grandfather if she didn't make it through this.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. This is kind of a preview I guess. I wasn't going to post it because I'm not sure if I can handle writing another story right now, but I did it anyways. I'm gonna warn you now that the updates will be slow. But, I hope you'll sit through it with me :} I love you guys! Muah!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the hospital of Freesia, the waiting room was silent in the dead of night. Only the ticking of the clock on the wall and the non-frequent footsteps of nurses passing by, sounded in the spacious room. The room was mostly empty, apart from four bandaged wizards who were sitting in melancholy. Laxus sat with his legs outstretched and arms crossed as he glared at the floor between his legs. Across from him, Freed sat with his elbows resting against his knees, his chin resting against his clasped hands. Beside him, Evergreen sat hugging her arms, head rested against Bicklow's shoulder. And Bickslow sat with his arms laying limp in his lap, his head resting against the wall behind him. They had been there for hours. Hours without any word of the condition of the blonde girl they had brought in.

"Should we call Gramps?" Evergreen asked, her whisper carrying throughout the eerily silent room. No one answered for a while, speaking didn't seem to want to come easily.

"Not yet." Freed finally voiced, his voice laced with the exhaustion he was feeling. "Not until we know her condition. There's no point in worrying him unless we can answer his questions."

The room slipped into silence once more. There was nothing that could be said, and no consolation that could be given. The only thing they could do was wait. Wait in the eerily silent waiting room.

Footsteps were heard approaching them, and they all looked up to see a doctor walking towards them with a clipboard in his hands. He stopped in front of them, putting the clipboard under his arm. "You're all here for Lucy Heartfilia, yes?"

They all stood up, and Laxus approached the man. "How is she?"

The doctor sighed. "She is stable, and she will live."

They wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but it didn't come out. "Can we see her?" Freed stepped up, urgency in his voice.

The doctor took a moment to study them all, before he looked back down on his clip board. "You put one Makarov Dreyar as her legal guardian. Unless you are relatives of either her or him, I would prefer for you to wait until the arrival of a relative."

Laxus growled slightly, exhaustion and impatience wearing on him. "I'm Laxus Dreyar, Makarov's grandson. We're all a part of the same guild, so we are her family."

The doctor sighed once again and put the clip board under his arm. "Very well then. Come with me." He turned on his heel and started walked towards one of the hallways, the others following closely behind him. "My name is Jarrod, by the way. I will be Miss Heartfilia's head doctor for the remainder of her stay here."

"How long will she be staying here?" Freed asked.

"Unfortunately, we do not know." They came to a stop at a door hat read 'intensive care'. "That will be up to her." The doctor finished as he turned the knob and usher them inside.

They all held their breath as they stepped inside the plain white room. When their eyes landed on the still form in a bed by the window, none of them breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow, she looked even worse now that she was cleaned up and bandaged. Her face was swollen, stitches on her lower lip, the white sheet of the hospital bed concealed the rest of her body, but there was no mistaking the way one arm seemed longer than the other under the sheets.

Laxus tore his eyes away from her broken form, a scowl making its way onto his lips. His eyes landed on the doctor, who was scribbling something down on his clipboard. "When can we take her home?"

Jarrod look up in slight surprise at the harshness in the other man's voice. "Like I said before, Mr. Dreyar, we do not know. She has extensive injuries that need to be healed, and we have yet to see the state of her mind when she wakes up. She will be on twenty-four-hour watch until she wakes, then it will depend on how well her injuries heal."

"And what are the extent of her injuries?" Freed hesitantly asked, his eyes never leaving the girl on the bed, focused on the rise and fall of her chest.

Jarrod closed his eyes for a moment, before he flipped through pages on his clipboard and began reading off the list of her injuries. "One of the most concerning injuries, was the amputation of her right hand, presumably cause by a blunt, sharp weapon. We removed some more of her bone in order to prevent infection. There were several, severe lacerations along her back, legs, and arms. There is massive bruising all over her body. In her left leg, both the tibia and fibula bones were split in two. It seems the men who kept her performed a live operation on her stomach, and the sutures intent to close the wound, infected her with tetanus." The doctor took a moment to catch his breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose before he continued. "A foreign substance was flowing through her bloodstream. We had to perform several blood transfusions in order to flush the black liquid out. We were unable to identify the contents of the substance, nor do we know what affect it had on her body. And…" He stopped to clear his throat, his eyes scanning the mages in the room. They seemed to be hanging on to his every word. Frowning, he put the clipboard under his arm again, and looked Laxus dead in the eye. "There was also vaginal trauma. As I said before, we do not know how long she will be here, since we do not know what her state of mind will be when she does wake up. We must make sure she is not a danger to herself before she is cleared for release."

A heavy silence filled the room, all of their eyes shifting to the blonde girl on the bed. After a moment, Bickslow whispered. "Thank you for saving her, doc."

The man only nodded before he left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Freed silently stepped up to the left side of the bed, looking over her form. He slowly sat down on one of the chairs placed by the bedside, and he delicately placed his hand over her left one under the covers. Looking at the peaceful rise and fall of her chest, it was so hard to believe that any of this was real. But the evidence was branded on every inch of her body, and it completely broke his heart.

Bickslow and Evergreen sank in the chairs on the opposite side of the bed, and Evergreen lightly placed her hand on the girl's shoulder as her tears finally slowed. Laxus stood at the foot of the bed, looking over the girl with a hard set to his jaw. It was clear to them all that they felt the same: they would protect this girl, they would help her and make sure she came back from this.

Freed and Evergreen retracted their hands when they saw her eyelids start to flutter. They all held their breath, hoping to Mavis that she didn't start screaming.

They discretely breathed sighs of relief when she didn't start screaming, but when she did nothing but blankly stare at the ceiling, their relief seemed pointless.

"Lucy?" Evergreen tentatively tried to talk to the girl. "Can you hear me, Lucy?"

"Please kill me. Please. Kill me. Please kill me."

Her hand snapped up to her mouth, eyes wide. Laxus clenched his jaw and glared at the girl. It was like nothing had changed, and it was completely unnerving.

"Lucy." Freed grabbed her face in his hands, leaning over to look in her lifeless eyes. He would be damned if he let her beg for death any longer. It shook every nerve in his body, froze him to his core. He couldn't hear it any more. "It's Freed. I'm here with Evergreen, Bickslow, and Laxus. You're safe with us, and on my honor, I will make sure you stay that way."

Her bland pleas stopped, and he felt like he could breathe again, but his eyebrows furrowed. Even though he was directly in her line of sight, it was like she was looking past him, like he wasn't there at all. The door opening made him stand back up, and they all looked towards Jarrod as he entered the room. "Ah, so she's awake. That's good." They gave him room as he checked her over, them watching intently. After a while, Jarrod sighed and straightened up to look at the awaiting mages. "She is catatonic." All of their eyes widened, and Jarrod softly patted the girl's shoulder. "It seems that what she went through was too much, and her mind has shut down. We will keep her here for a while, make sure her injuries are healing properly before we release her. Do not worry, she can still hear everything you say."

"Will she come out of her state?" Freed implored.

"That will be up to her." Jarrod said solemnly. "This hospital is open twenty-four hours, so you may stay as long as you wish."

"Is there a communications lacrima I can use?" Laxus asked, and Jarrod nodded.

"It's at the front with the receptionist. I need to see her anyways, so you can follow me."

Laxus nodded and followed the man to the front desk. He nodded his thanks to the woman, and went to sit in the empty waiting room with the lacrima in hand. He hesitated, not entirely thrilled to deliver the news he was about to. Sighing, he sent a pulse of magic into the device and waited.

"Laxus? What can I do for you, m'boy?" The wrinkled face of his grandfather appeared on the orb, and Laxus couldn't help but notice that the man looked tired and stressed.

"Hey gramps, are you in your office?"

"…yes. I am alone." The old man took note of the exhaustion and seriousness on his grandson's face. "What's wrong, son?"

"Good, I don't want anyone else to know about this yet." Laxus sighed and ran a hand down his face. "We found Lucy."

"Lucy?" The old man's face morphed into confusion and concern. "Are you in Acalypha? Is she alright?"

"No. We're in Freesia." He took a deep breath through his nose. "We found her during our mission. The dark guild had her chained in the basement."

Makarov's eyes widened in horror. "She was taken? Laxus…Is she alright?"

He shook his head. "Listen, gramps. We barely got to her in time. She's in bad shape, and…" He sighed, not really wanting to give the details. "We took her to a hospital…she's catatonic."

"…Catatonic?" Makarov repeated in shock. "Laxus….How bad is she hurt?"

"It's…really bad, gramps." Laxus turned his gaze to the floor for a moment, not wanting to see the tears brimming in his grandfather's eyes. He looked back up, immediately regretting it when he did see tears. "I haven't discussed it with my team yet, but I was thinking about taking her to the summer house we built on the outskirts of Magnolia. She would be able to recover in peace there. She's in really bad shape, her right hand is completely gone. Also…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out her keys, holding them up to the lacrima. "There's a trapping spell on these, you wouldn't happen to know how to get rid of it, would you?"

He hummed as he studied the black swirl on the tops of the keys. "That is a powerful spell indeed. I will have to consult a friend on this matter, I'm afraid."

Laxus sighed as he nodded and put the keys back in his pocket. "Gramps…Don't tell anyone yet. I don't want anyone, especially her team, storming into this hospital and making matters worse. I need to talk about moving her into the summer house with my team. Can you keep this private for a while?"

Makarov sighed and nodded. "I will, but Natsu is getting very restless about searching for her already. You won't have a lot of time until he storms out searching for her. There's only so much I can do."

Laxus nodded, the flame brain did care for her after all. "Just a little longer, then you can tell them. I just want to make sure she can't be hurt by stupid behavior." He growled a little in his throat as he thought about the bland please she made when she woke up. "Seeing her like this…it would break them, gramps."

Makarov sighed, wiping at his eyes. "You have all the time you think she needs. Keep me updated, Laxus. And please…Keep her safe."

"I will, gramps." Laxus said low, almost a whisper. If there was anything he was sure of, it was that. He shut off the lacrima and sat in the chair for a little longer. His face was solemn as he got up, fingering the keys in his pocket. He would make sure she stayed safe, he would make sure she recovered…no matter what.

* * *

 **Thanks so much for your support so far!**

 **Umm...I'm honestly really drunk right now, so I;m not entirely sure how the spelling and stuff is...I'll probably fix it in a few days maybe...If I remember. OH yeah, this is the only mention o f"vaginal trauma" I will make, so if anyone is sensitive to that topic, please dont worry, it wont really come up.. I don't liek writing about that sort of thing, I like reading stoires liek that cuz im a fucked up person, but I dont like writing about it,,,,**

 **Anyways, I love you guys! Muah! Muah! I love you!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When the doctor walked into the room, Freed stopped reading and gave the man his attention from where he was seated next to the blonde on the hospital bed. "Good morning, Jarrod."

"Afternoon now, Freed." The man replied with an amused twitch to his lips.

Freed looked at the clock on the wall and his eyebrows rose. "Ah, so it is." He closed his book and turned his gaze back to the doctor. "Are you here for another check up on Lucy?"

"Actually, no." The doctor flipped through a few pages on his clipboard, and pulled out a form. "I am here to let you know that we are releasing her."

"Releasing her?" Freed's eyebrows furrowed.

The doctor nodded in conformation. "It has been two weeks, and there has been no change in her catatonic state. Her injuries are now sustainable, so with a few instructions, it should be no problem to take care of her yourselves. Now, I just need to have Mr. Dreyar sign her release papers."

"He should be here in an hour. Can it wait until then?"

The doctor sighed. "I suppose it can. Please send him to the front desk when he arrives."

When the doctor shut the door upon leaving, Freed turned his gaze to the blonde staring blankly at the ceiling. For two weeks, she had stared at that ceiling; unseeing. The team had booked a hotel nearby for an indefinite amount of time, and every day they would rotate sitting with her.

Freed sat with her the most out of all of them. His argument to them was that since he mostly reads in his past time anyways, he could read to Lucy to keep her mind focused on something. The truth was; he just didn't want to let her out of his sight. He had put a rune enchantment around her bed; despite knowing the dark mages were in prison. The times when he wasn't sitting by her bedside, he worried about her well-being, and wondered if she had improved. It took too much of a toll on his mind, so being with her was simply easier for him.

"Do you hear that, miss Lucy? We can leave these white walls."

His words garnered no response from the blonde, like always. However, that never stopped him from talking with the girl; everything from past missions he's had with his team, to his morning rituals. He would talk about anything and everything, just in case something would trigger her to respond.

He gently placed his hand over her left one, and stroked the skin with his thumb. "You're going to like our summer house. It's very peaceful, and the view is magnificent." After a few moments of silence, he re-opened his book and began reading to her again.

* * *

An hour and a half later, the rest of the team, led by a scowling Laxus, entered the room.

"Is something wrong?" Freed asked as he stood up, noticing his leader's annoyance.

"Wonderful." Laxus sneered as he looked at the blonde lying on the bed. "Just that the only reason they're releasing her, is so that they can make room for 'normal' patients."

"What?" Freed's face scrunched in disgust.

"Boss man heard a few nurses talkin' while he was signing the release papers." Bickslow frowned as he glanced at his leader. "Let's just say they want us out of here as soon as possible."

Evergreen huffed as she moved to stand beside Lucy and raked her fingernail across her very short blond locks. "I say the sooner we leave the better." Her lips lifted when she managed to make the girl's hair look nice. "Besides, those imbeciles deserved everything Laxus gave them."

Freed rose an eyebrow at Laxus in question, but the man just looked back at him with a smug expression. Freed didn't question it any further, and he felt his own lips lifting at the images his mind conjured up.

The door opened, and two nurses who looked positively annoyed walked into the room with a wheelchair. Freed moved to stand next to the rest of his team after the nurses practically shoved him to the side, and they all watched as the nurses moved Lucy into the wheelchair.

It was weird for them, seeing her out of the bed. Her amputated hand was wrapped up in white bandages, while the rest of her injuries were uncovered; apart from her leg, which was in a cast.

When the doctor walked back in the room, he gave Laxus a list of treatments that might help her condition, as well as syringes for her medicine, and instruction on how to get her to eat and drink.

After that, they were practically shoved out of the hospital. They decided to just head straight back to Magnolia, so after they grabbed their stuff from the hotel, they venture to the train station, with Bickslow manning the wheel chaired Lucy.

The whole team was getting more and more irritated by the minute. Everyone they passed stopped to stare at Lucy. Kids pointed at her while getting their parents' attention. Someone even had the gall to laugh at her in passing. Not even Laxus' glare made them stop.

"Do you think I'd get expelled from the guild if I maimed some of these assholes?" Laxus grumbled as he plopped down on the bench in the train compartment.

Freed and Bickslow both grunted as they lifted Lucy from the wheelchair and sat her next to Evergreen, who wrapped her arm around Lucy so she wouldn't fall.

"Dunno about gramps, but the rune knights might get ya." Bickslow grinned as he planted himself next to his leader, while Freed sat next to Lucy.

Laxus said nothing, he only growled as he glared out the window, causing them all to smirk. Seeing him get angry about it made them feel better.

As the train lurched forward, the team readied themselves for the long ride to Magnolia. Freed pulled out a book to read, Evergreen began to pant her nails, and Bickslow rested his elbows on his knees as he watched Lucy stare blankly back at him; his babies circling above their heads.

"Do you think she's thinking about something?" Bickslow voiced his thoughts.

Freed peeked up from his book. "She can hear you."

Bickslow shrugged. "Well, I just think I would be super bored if I was catatonic."

Freed gave him a deadpan stare. "You're an idiot."

The man leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just stating the truth."

Freed just rolled his eyes, but he had to wonder if she was actually bored, not that he would admit that to Bickslow. The doctor said she could hear them, so did that mean she was just trapped in her mind, being able to comprehend everything, or was she just in a vegetative state? He made a mental note to do more research on catatonic minds later.

* * *

"Welcome to your new home, Cosplayer!" Bickslow grinned as they rolled her into their summer house. It was in the woods of Magnolia, far enough away from the bustle of people, but close enough that they could easily go and get anything they needed. It was made like a log cabin, with five bedrooms, and quite a large living space.

I'm gonna go let gramps know we're here." Laxus said as he strode off to find a communications lacrima.

"Come on, Lucy." Evergreen said as she wheeled the girl into one of the bedrooms on the bottom floor. "Let's get you into some decent clothes."

Freed and Bickslow's eyes both widened when they walked into the kitchen and heard Laxus tell gramps that he could inform the girl's team.

"How do you think that's gonna go?" Bickslow whispered to Freed.

The man frowned. "I need to put up some runes."

Bickslow just snickered as Freed pulled out his sword.

* * *

Natsu breathed out a huff of hot air as he laid his head on a table at the guild. It had been too long, way too fucking long since Lucy left, and he didn't understand why gramps wouldn't let him go look for her. He understood that she wanted to see her parents alone, he really did, but she had never taken this long before. He swore to Mavis that if anything happened to her, he would kick gramps' ass; guild master or not.

"Oi! Chill the fuck out, man." Gray grumbled as he plopped down next to the dragon slayer, his clothes flying off due to his own anxiety.

Natsu gave him a cold stare from the corner of his eyes. "One more day, then I don't care what gramps says."

Gray looked at him with wide eyes. "You know you could get expelled for that, right?"

Natsu's cold gaze didn't waver. "And you know she could be in danger, right?"

Gray sighed heavily and rested his elbows on the table. "What if she's just spending time in her old mansion?"

"Then at least I'd know she's safe." Natsu growled, and Gray sighed again as he put his head in his hands.

"I agree with Natsu."

They both looked up in surprise as Erza sat across from them.

"Erza?" Gray asked in disbelief. "You'd go against gramps' orders?"

She nodded her head solemnly. "Like Natsu said, it has been far too long. For a while, I thought that maybe she had been taken to the celestial world, but it has been longer than three months now. This is something that I cannot agree with the master on."

"Exactly!" Natus huffed. "Plus, what's the harm in us goin' after her anyways?"

"Yeah I don't get that either." Gray murmured lowly.

"Then it's settled." Erza said. "Tomorrow, we go and look for her."

Natsu grinned. "I'm all fired up." Even Gray smiled at the thought of actually looking for her instead of sitting and wondering.

"Erza! Natsu! Gray!"

All three of them froze at the master's shout. They slowly looked up at the old man on the second floor, wondering how the hell he could have possibly overheard them.

"In my office!"

With sweat building on their foreheads, the trio stood up, ignoring the snickering from the rest of the guild, and went up the stairs into the master's office. Once the door was shut, the three slowly turned to their tiny master with guilty looks on their faces.

The master sighed heavily as he hopped up on his desk, but before he could say anything, Natsu burst out, "You can't stop us, gramps!"

"Idiot!" Gray shout as he smacked the boy upside the head.

"What?!" Natsu shouted at Gray. "I can stand it anymore!" He then turned to the frowning master. "Gramps, we're going to look for her, and I don't care if you have to expel us! She could be in danger, and I have to find her before it's too late!"

"Master, I have to agree with Natsu." Erza jumped in next. "Too much time has passed, and we cannot sit and wait any longer."

The master gazed at the three with saddened eyes. "Brats, I want you to listen to me with no interruptions. Understand?"

They eyed him warily, but nodded all the same.

"First and foremost, I want to say that I am sorry. It pains me to say this, but I was wrong."

"What do you mean you were wrong?" Natsu asked slowly as his whole body tensed in suspicion.

"I want you all to know that Lucy is safe and being cared for."

"Cared for?" Gray asked. "What the hell happened to her?!"

"She was taken by a dark guild…three months ago." The master reluctantly admitted, wincing at the rise in magical pressure from the three of them.

"You're telling me…" Natsu growled, his eyes hard and unforgiving. "That she's been captive to a dark guild…for three months…"

"Gramps, is she hurt?" Gray interjected before Natsu could start a rampage.

"Did she escape? Did someone find her?" Erza also spoke up without recognizing Gray's question.

The master held up his hand to silence them. "I need you all to listen until the end. Understood?"

They all reluctantly nodded again.

"Now, Laxus and his team found her on their mission in Freesia. Her captors are in prison, paying for their crimes. She is hurt and healing now with Laxus and his team in a house they built on the edge of Magnolia. If you decide to go see her, I must warn you that she is catatonic, and unable to interact with anyone, so be careful."

All at once, their magical pressure disappeared as their faces drained of their color. Natsu fell to his knees and gripped his hair in his hands. Gray stared at the floor, clenching and unclenching his fists, and Erza stayed unmoving as tears dripped down her cheeks.

"Again, I must tell you three that I'm sorry for preventing you from looking for her, and I ask for your forgiveness." The master said as a tear slid down his own cheek.

Natsu stood up and glared at the older man. "If there's anyone's forgiveness you should ask for," he rasped as tears prickled in his eyes. "It's hers."

They all watched as the pink-haired man stormed out of the office, no doubt as to where he was headed.

* * *

 **Finally! I updated. So sorry on the wait, I know it sucks.**

 **Thanks for the support you guys! I don't have a cat anymore, but I'll lick you myself! Also, not drunk this time ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Natsu stood in front of a door to a house on the edge of Magnolia, clenching and unclenching his fists. He was hesitating, his mind trying to prepare himself for what he was about to see. Every time his mind would conjure up an image to get used to, it would immediately dismiss it as a possibility, which scared the shit out of him.

He had seen Lucy get injured countless times, hell, he had even seen her die. But, each time he had been able to do something about it; each time, he had been able to save her. Now, she had gone through it all alone, and no one had been able to stop it. He hadn't been able to save her, and she was suffering for it.

With a deep, shaky breath, he raised his white-knuckled fist and knocked on the door. He shuffled on his feet while he listened to footsteps come nearer to the door, not sure if the pounding in his ears were the footsteps or his heart.

The door swung open to reveal Laxus with what might be considered a frown on his face. "I'm kinda impressed that you didn't burn the house down."

Natsu slowly let his eyes drift up to meet Laxus', and whispered lowly. "Where is she?"

Laxus let out a slow breath through his nose, glancing at the boy's fists for a second. "Maybe you should calm down before you see her."

"I need…I need to see her."

Laxus sighed at the restraint in those words, and he stepped aside. "Just… don't let this break you."

Natsu swallowed thickly at the man's words as he stepped into the house. How could one prevent something from breaking them? He took a long breath of air as he put one foot in front of the other, a burning in his stomach that set him on edge.

The house was bright, all the windows open and letting the sun shine through, possibly to cheer the place up? He really didn't give a shit, but what he definitely did give a shit about, was Lucy's scent. He followed her scent from the entryway to the living room. Ever so carefully, he entered the room, hoping to Mavis that the dreaded feeling in his gut wasn't true.

Freed looked up from the paper he was reading when he saw Natsu walk into the room, and he immediately stood up from the couch. The way Natsu's entire being froze when his eyes landed on Lucy, made him silently check the runes he had set up around the girl. Not that he could blame Natsu though, the girl looked like a statue as she sat on the armchair, not moving, and very unconvincingly breathing. It was eerie to say the least.

"L-Lucy?" Natsu choked out as he tried to look into her lifeless, unfocused eyes. This wasn't right, she always smiled when she saw him, but she wasn't even looking at him. He stepped forward to try to help her see him. "Lucy, it's me." He noticed Free moving closer to her as he crouched in front of her, but he didn't really care what Freed was doing. He tilted his head to try and gain her attention. "Lucy, can't you see me?"

The silence that followed made his heart squeeze in his chest. There was no response, no movement of any kind. His eyes then drifted down to her hand, it was short…too short. "What the hell?" He whispered to himself before he shot up and rounded on Freed, the man not even flinching as he got right in his face. "What the hell happened to her?"

Freed let out a long breath through his nose, trying to figure out how the hell he was going to talk about this again. Thankfully, Laxus came in the room and spoke before he had to.

"If you'll sit the fuck down and promise not to destroy anything, then we'll tell you."

Natsu bared his teeth in frustration, not at them but at the situation.

Freed warily eyed the boy who looked like he could kill them at any given moment. "Maybe we should talk in another room. Lucy doesn't need to hear this again."

Natsu's face slowly morphed from anger to sorrow, his eyes held a spark of hope in them though. "She can hear us?"

"Yeah of course." Laxus huffed. "So, don't say anything you would get Lucy-kicked for."

That made Natsu smirk. "No shit, those kicks of her's hurt like a bitch."

"Glad we have an understanding then." Laxus turned around and started walking toward the back porch. "Why don't you get your flaming ass outside so we can explain this shit to you."

Natsu gave Lucy one more confused and sorrowful look, before he followed Laxus and Freed outside.

* * *

"How…"

Laxus' eyes scrunched at Natsu's growled words. "The fuck do you mean how?" They had just explained everything to Natsu. The impending exploding rage that could scorch an entire country was expected, not a question that they had already given an answer to.

"…could you have let them fucking live?!"

Oh. That made a lot more sense.

"Might I remind you, Natsu." Freed stepped up to the boy and looked him dead in his eyes, his gaze just as hard. "That Fairy Tail has a no kill rule, no matter what the circumstances might be."

"I don't care!" Natsu shouted, his rage getting harder and harder to control as he grabbed Freed's lapel. "They don't deserve to live! Why should they get to move and talk freely when she can't?!"

"I agree completely." Freed stated and he brushed the now stunned Natsu's hands off of him. "However, I would rather stay in Fairy Tail and be able to monitor miss Lucy's recovery than to be kicked out and never know what would become of her."

Natsu huffed a puff of air out of his nose, not liking, but agreeing with Freed's words.

"Why don't you calm down and think about shit before you come back inside." Laxus said as he followed Freed back into the house.

Natsu sank down onto the edge of the porch, his head falling into his hands. Why her? Of all the fucking people in all of Earthland, why the _fuck_ did it have to be her?!

On that porch, Natsu cried a little, cursed a little, and for once, thought a little.

* * *

Freed looked up from the book he was reading to Lucy as he heard the door to the back porch creak open. Natsu walked in with pensive look on his face, something that Freed found odd, considering that it was Natsu. So, when Natsu strolled into the living room and kneeled in front of Lucy, he sure as hell listened in, despite feeling just a little nosy.

Natsu tried to put his eyes in focus of where Lucy was looking, and the fact that he couldn't put a tiny crack in his heart. Her eyes were the main reason he told her so many things, why he could pour his heart out to her so willingly. Her eyes were real, they were forgiving, loving, unjudging, and just by looking at them he could tell what she was thinking. So, not being able to see the focus in her eyes was tearing him up inside. He wasn't able to tell what she was thinking, he wasn't able to see the emotions she was going through.

"Lucy…" He whispered, pausing to try to get his thoughts in order. "You know that I love you." He grabbed her hand in both of his and pressed his nose against it. "You're the family that I always wanted. Yeah, Fairy Tail is all family, but you're like immediate family…like blood related."

Freed found that interesting. He, along with so many others, had always thought that those two were in love, they just didn't know it themselves. But now he understood that they were just undeniably together, like true family. It made sense when he thought about it.

"I always want to protect you," Natsu continued. "And to know that I wasn't able to do that this time…it's killing me inside." He grit his teeth as tears started to form in his eyes, and he shook his head to try to keep them in. "I'm going to get stronger, I'm going to be able to protect you against anything, I promise. So, I'm gonna go away for a while, but I trust you with Freed and Laxus. I know you'll be able to recover here. That's what I want you to do for me, Lucy. I want you to work on recovering. I want you to try as hard as you can, cause you have a whole lot of family waiting for you." He ran his hand through his hair and stood up. "When I get back, you better be able to give me a hug, okay?" He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Lucy."

Freed nodded his head when Natsu did the same, and he put his hand over his chin as he watched Natsu walk away. Now, Freed had known Natsu for a very long time, but he had never seen that side of him before. Natsu was always just the crazy, goofy, dumb dragonslayer that didn't know his own potential. But, listening to what he'd said just now, Freed realized that there are always way more layers to people than what they show. You could know someone for years and years and still not know everything about them.

"Well shit."

He looked up to see Laxus eating his favorite butter pecan ice cream. Why the man loved that flavor, he would never understand,

"Indeed." Freed's eyes drifted away from Laxus licking a spoon and to Lucy's face. His eyebrows scrunched when he saw a shine on her cheek. He got up and moved closer, only to realize that she was crying. His heart hurt for her. "Lucy." He said softly as he sat next to her.

Laxus wiped his mouth and put his ice cream down to come over to her. "I thought I smelled salt."

"It's going to be okay, Lucy."

"Move aside Freed." Laxus said and picked Lucy up, making Freed's eyes widen, and placed her on his lap on the couch. When Freed raised an eyebrow at him, he shrugged and said, "She just needs a teddy bear in her life."

Freed smirked at the man, silently laughing at the fact that he just called himself a teddy bear.

"That does sound like a good idea, doesn't it?"

"Hell yeah it does!"

They both looked over to see Bickslow and Evergreen coming into the room in full pj's and pillows and blankets.

"The fuck are you two doing?" Laxus asked, genuinely curious.

"I hope moron disease is curable." Evergreen huffed.

"We're having a sleepover! Duh!" Bickslow's tongue lolled out of his mouth.

"You do realize that we all live here…right?" Freed asked, understanding what they were doing…but not being able to resist saying it.

"Well we can't leave Lucy to sleep by herself after _that_ conversation, now can we?" Evergreen smirked, putting a scarf around Lucy's neck

"You're both ridiculous." Laxus sighed, wrapping his arms around Lucy and leaning his head back against the couch.

"I'll go get the popcorn! Evergreen, pick a movie!" Bickslow shouted, getting super pumped for a sleepover.

Freed smiled, he had no doubt that they, in fact, could help Lucy recover, and honor Natsu's silent request.

* * *

 **I'm not going to give any excuses, just know that life is a real cunt.**


End file.
